Continuous-rail construction



No. 620,696. Patented Mar. 7, |899. E. VAN S. CHAMBEBLIN.

CONTINUOUS RAIL CONSTRUCTION.

(Application filed Jan. 25, 1898.)

(No Model.) I

s I A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EGEEET vAN s. OHAMBEELIN, OF sAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, yAssIcN'OE OFONE-HALF To JOHN II. ANDREW, OF ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA.

CONTINUOUS-RAIL CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters l'atentNo. 620,696, dated March 7,1899. Application filed January 25, 1898. Serial No. 667,896. (Nomodel.)

To @ZZ whom it' may concern.-

Be it known that I, EGBEET VAN S. CHAM- BERLIN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at San Diego, in the county of San Diego and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inContinuous-Rail Constructions; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and eX- act description of said invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it Inost nearlyappertains to make, use, and practice the same. i

This invention relates to improvements in railway constructions, andmore particularly to the construction of the rails;l and it consists inthe novel construction and arrangement of the parts, whereby thesupporting members are lapped the one upon the otherto avoid the totalweight being received upon a completed joint at any point.

In the drawings, Figure l is an isometrical perspective of theinvention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the invention in section.

It is the object of the present invention to obtain the greateststrength and rigidity to resist the vertical traffic strains, whileusing the minimum weight of material.

It is the further object of the present invention to avoid the subsidingor giving way of the points of junction or the ends of the rail whenreceiving the impact 0f the weight of the traflic.

It is the further object of the invention to provide a renewable portionfor the rail to receive the wearing strain; and it is the further objectof the invention to prevent creeping of the rails.

As shown in Fig. l, the tread A is constructed on lines similar to thepresent standard on the top and side. The variation occurs on theunderneath part of the head or tread, which in this improved form isrolled to form the hollows or valleys A adjacent the web, thedownwardly-curved portions A3 to the outer sides of the hollows, and theupwardly and outwardly curved portions to the outer sides of theportions A3. In this form where the rail is being made in the desiredshape and in the Iirst instance the tread and web are rolled in the formshown in the end view of Fig. l-that is to say, the web and tread arerolled without the usual flange of the standard r'ail. v The side bladesB B are provided with th webs B', the laterally-extending flanges B2,the recess B3, and the head B4. The web in these side blades is verticalto stand parallel with the web A2 of the tread A, and, as shown in Fig.l, the outer surfaces of the side plates present compound curves formedreversely to the curve of the tread, whereby the projecting portions ofthe tread fit in the depressed portions of the blades, thus by reason ofthe arrangement of parts specied preventing the inner portions of theblades from wearing into the tread. The flange B2 is so constructed ineach blade as to extend from under the center of the tread of the railOutward to form half of the ordinary flange of the present standardrail. When in position, the two blades form by their half-flanges acompleted rail-ange. When brought together in the center, the tworecesses B5 form in the abutment of the half-flanges a square recess,which is formed to just sufficient size to snugly receive the lower edgeof the squareended web of the tread of the rail. It is to provide for acertain amount of elasticity in the rail that I have shortened the webA', so that the metal of the blades B would have a small amount ofspring before the web A strikes upon the bottom of the recess B5.

With the parts formed as above set forth and assembled as shown in Fig.l of the drawings the vertical strain is carried upon the three webs A2B' B. The former carries its portion of the strain when seated in thesquare recesses of the flanges, while the latter two receive the strainfrom thetread A upon their heads B4 B4. It will now be observed that thevertical strain is equally distributed over the three verticalmembers-to wit, the three webs. It will also be observed that as thewebs are spread apart, so that the vertical positions of the blades B Bare nearly under the edges of the sides of the tread, there is providedfor in the present construction a greater resistance to any torsionalstrains. Further, by the separation and distribution of the verticalmembers I have obtained a greater proportion of strength to an equalamount of weight over and above the present web of the stand- IOO ardrail. To obtain the separation and distribution of the vertical membersreferred to, the sside blades B B are recessed or hollowed at B In theassembling of the parts they are held in position by bolts C, which arepassed through perforations provided in the three members and by whichall are drawn to and held snugly in their respective positions.

As here shown, the rail-tread is rounded at its edges, so that itpresents portions lower than the tread proper. The upper edge of theplate D is extended inwardly and rests upon this curved portion,whereby,although the upper surface of the plate and the tread proper are inline, the lower portion of the tread serves to support the upper end. ofthe plate.

The side blades B are formed of equal length with the tread A. Theentire rail,constructed by the assemblingof these parts,consists,then,of three members-the tread ,and two side blades. In assembling them orconstructing the rail for traiiic they are brought together so as toproduce three joints equally distant the one from the other-that is tosay, the blades B on the opposite sides of the rail are abutted on thethird dimensions of the tread. 1f the tread be thirty feet in length,the blades on the same side will extend over ten feet of its length,while the blade on the opposite side will extend over twenty feet of itslength, both dimensions being taken from the same end of the tread. Whentwo treads are abutted, the two blades referred to will then extend overthe length of the'new tread, the iirst extending over twenty feet of itslength and the second over ten feet of its length. Through the web A2 ofthe tread, at the ends thereof, are provided perforations to receive thebolts C. There are corresponding perforations provided in the webs ofthe blades B to line with the end perforations of the web A. These arenow joined by passing two bolts C through the perforations and settingthem in position. At the end of each blade there is a perforationprovided for a similar purpose, and corresponding perforations inlinetherewith are provided in the web A and the web of the oppositeblade. Vhen any three perforations are in line, the bolts C belongingtothe perforations may be placed in position. When the rail is thuscompleted, it will be found that the three vertical members, countingfrom the one side or the other, form an end joint with their abuttingmember, which is equally distant between two of the joints formed by theother two members, or, in other words; the three joints formedv by theabutnients of the three similar members are equidistant one from theother. The result of this construction is that under the verticalstrains of traffic there is only presented a joint which would representa weakness of one-third of the construction, or, in other words, that atall points when passing over a joint the vertical strain is resisted bytwothirds of the total strength of the rail;

In the present standard construction when the rail has become worn ithas to be thrown aside and substituted by a new rail, and this thoughthe wear is confined to the tread or head of the rail. When the rail isconstructed in conformity with this invention, this loss of metal isobviated by separating the blades B B from the tread A and renewing thatonly. As the tread bears a proportion to the total weight of the rail ofless than one-half it will be seen that there Vis considerable economyin the use of a rail constructed in conformity with the presentinvention. Again, the safety of travel is very much enhanced by theemployment of rails thus constructed, and especially in countries wherethey are subjected to intense cold. In these countries frequentaccidents, caused by the breaking of the rail and consequent dislodgmentof the same and dei-ailment of the train, transpire. It

is obvious that when constructed in accord-v ance with this inventionderailment from the cause above mentioned would not transpire, for thereason that in the event of any one of the three members breaking itwould be supported and held in place by the other two, and the breakageof all three members at the same point would be the merest chance.

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed is- Thecombination with a rail having a web, and a tread extending outwardly oneach side of said web, the under side of each extend- IOO ing treadportion presenting a compound curve having a hollow adjacent the web, adownwardly-curved portion to the outer side of the hollow and anupwardly and outwardly curved portion to the outer side of thedownwardly curved portion, of a separate side blade upon each side ofthe web, said side blades supporting the tread of the rail and Y havingtheir upper surfaces presenting compound curves formed reversely to thecurves of the tread whereby the projecting portions of the tread fit inthe depressed portions of the blades; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set` my hand this 11th day ofJanuary, 1898.

EGBERT VAN S. CI-IAMBERLIN.

Witnesses:

JOHN H. ANDREW, E. F. MURDooK.

IIO

